


Aftermath

by Celestiaura



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Ending, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ben Solo - Freeform, Fluff and Angst, Force Ghost Ben Solo, Mutual Pining, Rey Skywalker, Romance, Soul Bond, Soul-Searching, Unofficial Sequel, Young Love, jedi master rey, master rey, mentor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:34:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23538451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celestiaura/pseuds/Celestiaura
Summary: Rey lost him, but continues her journey as a broken Dyad. She can still feel a lingering of something in the force, be it Ben's faint touch or a new calling, she doesn't know but it keeps her going. She moves forward and takes her time to collect herself before embarking on a new journey when she hears the call of other force sensitives, never satisfied with staying still.This is a fanmade/unofficial sequel to Rise of Skywalker since I felt there was a lot unsaid at the end of the movie, we are all looking for some closure after it all. It starts at the break in the Dyad at the end of TROS.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Reylo
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> First Chapter/Introduction! This is also my first fic ever, so I'm still learning and growing in my writing!  
> There is a Spotify Playlist I made for this fic that helps set the tone, I highly recommend listening to it while reading and following it if you can since it's constantly being updated and isn't finished yet, just like the fic!  
> This chapter starts with the events on Exegol for reference. Next chapter there will be more Ben and adventure, I promise!
> 
> Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5LtnvWWFkQbCwn12wZ2thC?si=n9kmUZ1KTVa7r79t0QN6Ag

“Come back, I still need you.” 

Those were the last words Ben Solo heard from Rey’s lips as he drifted into darkness. He didn’t want to leave her, he didn't want to leave the life they had just found together. He had just made his way to this path and it was right by her side, so why was it being taken away from him? Isn’t this what the universe wanted? 

He was grateful that the last thing he saw was her smiling, he couldn’t stand it if the last memory he had of her was her grief stricken face he had seen too many times before. The fact that the last thing he saw was her was enough for him, but the last sensation of her warmth again in his arms was the greatest gift the universe had given him in his all-too tumultuous life.

He could only imagine what Rey was going through as he felt himself fading. Was she crying like when she refused his hand in the throne room? Was she choked and unable to breath like when she witnessed the resistance gunned down before her eyes? Did she feel just as defenseless? Because he did and he didn’t know how but as their mortal connection faded, he could tell it was nothing remotely close to something she could handle alone. Without his mother, without his uncle, all she had was Finn, Rose, and Poe. Would they understand her grief over him, a murderer? Would they mourn with her or give her hardened looks and garner no sympathy? 

All these thoughts went through his mind like flashes as he was overtaken, the Dyad broken, their universe falling out of balance once again after the briefest moments of calm. The only word on his mind, trying to claw their way from his throat was her name over and over again, but nothing came.

* * *

Rey felt frozen in time as she piloted Luke’s X-Wing away from Exegol and the sun gradually broke through in the sky and touched her skin. She should have felt warm, she should have felt relief, acceptance and peace that Palpatine’s defeat rang hard and true across the galaxy. But all she felt was frozen. Her tears had mixed with the dust of the once mythical world, wishing it was all a dream, that the empty and worn sweater of Ben Solo she desperately clung to would fill with the form of her other half and bring the balance back. But nothing happened. She sat in that dust until she couldn’t even picture him in front of her anymore and dragged her feet to the vessel that brought her to her grave, holding the only thing left of Ben Solo, the man who pulled her from it. 

As she pulled herself from the pilot’s seat at the resistance base, she found Finn and Poe, they pulled her close, the tears never stopping. She had been bombarded with questions about the final battle, about Exegol, and of the enemy turned ally. She could only stare with wet eyes at their faces, taking them in. Finn knew something had happened, he had felt her fade from the force when she died, but she couldn’t make her throat form any words.

She was grateful when Lando rested a hand on her shoulder, reminding the group that she had been to hell and back, and needed some time to process. All that mattered was that she was alive, and found her way back to them.

Her friends would never understand what she had seen or what she had felt. She refused to speak on the subject of Ben Solo, or Kylo Ren as they still called him, besides that when it came down to it, he proved her right and he made Leia proud. He proved that despite all the wrongdoings in a person’s life, no matter how strong the darkness pulled at you, fate didn’t determine anyone’s life. He proved that a person could change and made the right choice. 

Rey had participated in some festivities and congratulations from the resistance, but she retired to a small hut further away from the base camp for some silence and solitude. The noise died down as the adrenaline subsided throughout the camp and she found herself the only one awake in the night.

“I don't want to let you go…” Rey choked out, familiar tears falling down her cheeks and onto his sweater again. She had sat on the cot with feet planted on the floor, the sweater taking on a new personality in the warm glow of the small fire she had for warmth and light.

_ “Then don’t.” _ A familiar voice drifted through the emptiness, barely audible above the crackling fire. 

She remained silent, the echoes of his voice in her head of the things she wished he was here to say hurt too much. There was so much more she wanted to say to him, the other half of their dyad. She spent years alone, begging for something more in her life, always feeling out of place and abandoned, only to learn that she was never alone. She was part of a dyad, something so rare and deep, she was a part of something so special and it was taken from her. For the good of the galaxy? No, he did it for her, not the world. The world would have kept on turning with her duty done, her life lost but the galaxy saved.

“You should be here.” She barely whispered.

_ “Not without you.” _ She heard the voice again and hesitated, slowly looking up. She was alone. Always alone.

Because despite the world spinning on, Ben Solo knew she had more to live for. Despite losing every mentor she had, she had her friends. People who believed in Rey like they believed in his mother. He couldn’t save his mother, he had been too blinded by hatred and search for control that he had let his mother fall to make him see the light. He wouldn’t let her sacrifice herself because he didn’t take her hand when she offered him so many times. 

_ “Rey.” _ The voice was clear as day now. Rey stood up quickly, wiping the tears from her face.

“Y-Yes?” She half heartedly called out, assuming someone was looking for her. When no answer came, she walked to the leaves of the hut and pulled it aside, it was a peaceful night earned by their victory with not a soul awake. “Is someone out there?”

_ “No matter where you are, I'll be there.” _ She gasped at the clarity and warmth that the voice brought, Ben’s voice. It was without form but she knew it was him. She had heard that voice in more ways than one: through the force, her imagination, traveling through her ears….

Ben had no last words to her, but he didn’t need to say anything. Their connection spoke volumes, more than any statement or declaration could ever hope to. Her fingers slowly found their way to her lips and she barely grazed her lower lip with them. Their kiss, she could still feel it. 

“Thank you, Ben...” She whispered to the stars through the trees, knowing he would hear her. He didn’t answer, but she knew he was there, if only just passing through. 


End file.
